December 14, 2006

The Top 10 shows of 2006 (and 10 runners up)

Whittling down my TV favorites to a mere 10 shows isn’t easy, and the networks -- both broadcast and cable -- aren’t making things any easier. Not that I’m not complaining.

As I peruse the shows that made the cut, one idea jumped out at me: A whole lot of these programs never would have been commissioned even a few years ago.

A prime-time show about a Hispanic woman from Queens -- who gets by on her smarts and spine, not her physique or a stereotypically "spicy" personality? A series about a physician so abrasive that he’s nearly sent to jail, more or less for being a jerk? A program about the humdrum lives of the drones at a paper company -- a comedy, no less?

If there’s one thing TV executives realized this year, it’s that the same-old, same-old won’t cut it any more. If you want to be a hit -- on cable, on the networks, on iTunes or Yahoo TV, on DVD or even on YouTube -- your show has to stand out.

The characters had better be memorable and complicated. The stories had better be so compelling that viewers can’t wait to tune in each week. And it’s even better if a sizable group of fans help promote the shows by spending the days or weeks between episodes peppering message boards and blogs with musings, praise, denunciations, nitpicks and other manifestations of television devotion.

Fan devotion helped “Friday Night Lights” get a full season, blogs sprang up to dissect wardrobe choices on “Ugly Betty” mere days after the show premiered, and “Deadwood” might not be returning next year if not for the vociferous campaigning of the show’s viewers. Doing something different can be scary for networks, but there are no other options -- especially if they want to grab the eyeballs -- and hearts -- of the most discerning viewers.

Television is a risky business, but all the more so if risks are gingerly avoided. Kudos to the creative people behind the shows on the list below. They’ve raised the bar yet again.

Click below to read the list.

(Shows are listed in alphabetical order.)

“Battlestar Galactica,” Sci Fi: Like “Deadwood,” “Battlestar Galactica”
is interested in exploring how a society on the edge decides to govern
itself. (Sounds exciting, eh? Trust me, it is.) What rights and actions
are sacrosanct, which are outlawed, when most of the human race is
eliminated? What’s allowable or forbidden when life-threatening
emergencies loom? Thank goodness the people muddling through these
decisions are the key to this provocative series. If not grounded in
the lives of understandably flawed, often noble, decidedly real human
beings, none of this highfalutin’ metaphorical stuff would fly. Thanks
to a stellar cast and brave writing, “Battlestar” soars.

“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”/“The Colbert Report,” Comedy Central:
Stephen Colbert, in case you hadn’t noticed, is giving one of the most
entertaining performances on television, in his
“Colbert Report”
persona as a conservative cable blowhard. The “Report’s” snappy writing
and Colbert’s improvisational skills have only gotten better over time.
And in all the lavish media coverage of “The Daily Show,” few
commentators have realized that it’s not just a snarkfest: There’s
anger at the core of the show. What drives this fake-news program is
the idea that the men and women of both parties entrusted with the job
of governing us aren’t doing a good enough job. The pointed
eviscerations of the mainstream media’s failings are just a fun bonus.

“Deadwood,” HBO: This show’s acting ensemble is truly an embarrassment
of riches: Ian McShane, William Sanderson, Molly Parker, Gerald
McRaney, Timothy Olyphant, Paula Malcolmson - the performers in this
Western, right down to the feisty bar cleaner Jewel and the intense Mr.
Wu, are as good as it gets. The sprawling, surprising saga, the actors,
David Milch’s poetic dialogue - which mixes the profane with the ornate
in a uniquely “Deadwood”-ian patois - all make for an utterly
compelling, extraordinarily authentic tale.

“Friday Night Lights,” NBC: If you think this show is only about
football, think again. The games at Dillon High are thrilling but
mostly because they provide arenas for the hopes, fears, loves and
rivalries of the richly drawn characters in this small Texas town. As
Coach Eric Taylor, Kyle Chandler paints a nuanced picture of man under
pressure to achieve victory while trying to be a role model and even a
friend to a complicated tribe of high school athletes. All that plus a
sizzling love triangle makes for addictive viewing.

“House,” Fox: They haven’t done it yet - can you believe it? Three
seasons in, and the “House” writers haven’t softened the cranky doctor
in the slightest. No puppy or adorable moppet has taken up residence in
his bachelor pad. As if that weren’t enough, the show’s intelligent
writers haven’t slackened in their storytelling; they restlessly
explore everyday ethics and morality with ruthless rigor (and provide
gripping medical mysteries and damn funny dialogue to boot). “Everybody
lies,” is House’s house rule. This show wants to know why, but it gives
no easy answers at the end of the hour.

“The Office,” NBC: Thursday is must-see TV night on NBC again, and this
sensational series is one big reason for that. Laugh-out-loud comedy is
hard to come by, but laughs anchored within a minutely realized
character study - that doesn’t exist, except at Scranton’s Dunder
Mifflin paper company. Long may it provide copy paper to the
Pennsylvania business community, and belly laughs to the rest of us.

“Project Runway,” Bravo: The casting gods were smiling on this red-hot
fashion-design show this year. There were many memorable characters,
but, as it should be, the freaks never outshone the frocks. The level
of talent among the most recent batch of candidates was truly
impressive, and in the compassionate yet forthright Tim Gunn, the show
had a suave secret weapon: a man who could tell nervous fashionistas
the truth without causing a meltdown. If you’re not a “Runway” addict,
you may never understand the draw of this show. During “Runway” season,
the rest of us just live for Wednesday nights.

“The Shield,” FX: Season 5 of “The Shield” will go down in history as
one of the best seasons of television ever. Riveting doesn’t begin to
describe the performances by Forest Whitaker, Michael Chiklis, Walton
Goggins and Kenneth Johnson. As an internal-affairs cop obsessed with
bringing down rogue cop Vic Mackey and his crew, Whitaker was on fire,
and “The Shield” cast gave as good as it got. And the Shakespearean
finale of the season was as tragic as filmed drama gets.

“Ugly Betty,” ABC: No show had a more difficult mixture to master this
year: Newcomer “Betty” is equal parts camp, comedy, melodrama and
family saga. Getting this delicate balance right, and giving these
characters depth without destroying our ability to laugh at their
foibles - well, the whole enterprise could have been a disaster. But
the skilled cast brings off this unique mixture with flair to spare,
and as the plucky Betty, the earnest girl from the outer boroughs who’s
swimming with Manhattan’s designer-clad sharks, America Ferrera is
giving a career-making performance.

“The Wire,” HBO: Descriptions of this program sound like
eat-your-vegetables TV: One strand of the most recent season of the HBO
drama explores how the education system lets down inner-city kids. You
might think that’s a formula for earnest, boring TV - until you meet
Dukie, Namond, Michael and Randy. Thanks to the cliché-free writing of
“The Wire” staff and four phenomenal performances by the young actors
playing these 8th graders, this quartet of Baltimore kids became real
and their fates came to matter intensely. If Dickens were writing now,
he’d be writing for “The Wire.” It’s a gripping, novelistic serial that
is unsparing in its authenticity and in its compassion. And the anger
that motivates “The Wire” shows us how we are all complicit in
society’s failures.

The 10 runners up:

“24,” Fox: I need you to trust me. Jack Bauer will save us - from being
bored ever again on Mondays. Come January, we’ll be glued to his
adventures again, we’ll be amused by Chloe O’Brian’s crankiness, and
we’ll be so enraptured by the whole darn spectacle that we won’t care
that we don’t know what it means when someone at CTU opens a socket and
transfers a volume to division.

“The Closer,” TNT: Kyra Sedgwick’s canny portrayal of a female
detective with her share of issues, as well as savvy writing and a
memorable supporting cast, save this show from being just another cop
procedural.

“Dexter,” Showtime: A heartbreaking drama about a serial killer -
that’s also one of the funniest black comedies in ages? I didn’t
believe such a concoction was possible. At this excellent show’s heart
is a stunning, vulnerable performance by Michael C. Hall.

“Entourage,” HBO: Two words: Ari Gold. Jeremy Piven’s performance as
the eternally scrambling agent of up-and-comer Vince Chase stops just
short of being over-the-top. But it’s when he’s skirting the edge of
over-the-top that we love Ari the most.

“How I Met Your Mother,” CBS: Swarley. Robin Sparkles. Phone five.
Lemon law. Come on, people, tell me you know what these phrases refer
to. If you don’t, you’re missing out on one of the most charming,
hilarious comedies on TV. It’s also - wait for it - oh so quotable.

“The New Adventures of Old Christine,” CBS: Traveling mostly under the
media radar this year, “Christine” has quietly grown into one of the
most consistently satisfying comedies on TV. Not only is Julia
Louis-Dreyfus a virtuoso of low self-esteem comedy (she’s a pratfall
master as well), the “Seinfeld” veteran generously shares the laughs
with a very skilled ensemble.

“Psych,” USA Network: This goofball shaggy-dog detective comedy about a
fake psychic and his long-suffering best pal is escapist TV at its most
diverting.

“Scrubs,” NBC: A delightfully daffy medical comedy with a big heart,
twisted writing and a cast with drop-dead perfect comic timing. What
more do you want?

“Veronica Mars,” CW: Some of the best rat-a-tat dialogue on TV comes
out of the mouth of this acerbic teen detective, but, in truth, the
scenes between Veronica and her dad, as well as the bumpy love affair
between Veronica and charismatic rich boy Logan, gives this scrappy
drama its beating heart. My fingers are crossed for a fourth season.

“Weeds,” Showtime: What does a harried, upper-middle-class widow do to
stay solvent in a tony California suburb? Sell pot to the locals, in
this devious and delicious comedy. Not only is the central conceit a
neat metaphor for a variety of upscale addictions (triple latte,
anyone?), but the supporting cast on this comedy is ridiculously sharp.
Kevin Nealon’s Doug Wilson is tied with “The Office’s” Andy (Ed Helms)
as the funniest clueless post-frat boy on TV.

Photos:

Tricia Helfer and Grace Park as Number 6 and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii on "Battlestar Galactica."

"The toss" between "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," and a light saber battle between Stephen Colbert and George Lucas from "The Colbert Report."

Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor on "Friday Night Lights."

Steve Carell as Michael Scott on "The Office."

Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins as Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell on "The Shield."

Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff on "The Wire."

"Late Night with Jack Bauer" -- er, no, but doesn't it look as though Jack Bauer is standing in front of a late-night talk show set? Anyway, that's Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer on "24."

Comments

Your list has very little in common with mine. Here's every show I watch regularly in alphabetical order (I don't have cable or even UHF): Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two And A Half Men, Without A Trace. Although my Channel Two/CBS reception is lousy, about the only time I change the channel is for Boston Legal and the occasional PBS special.

"How I Met Your Mother" also has cameos for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans who, like me, might have started watching the series because it features Alyson Hannigan (Willow). Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndham-Pryce) as Sandy Rivers, Tom Lenk (Andrew, one of "The Trio") as the anonymous coffee shop clerk, and just last week, Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins) as Ted's mother's new boyfriend Clint. When I heard Clint on last weeks Christmas show, his voice sounded so familiar, and it took a while before I realized who it was. If only they would have thrown in a snake joke or two...

Although I started watching because of Alyson Hannigan, I keep watching because of Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). True story.

Law & Order Criminal Intent
What the hell happenened? Were the ratings so bad they had to go to the "sex crime of the week" format? Isn't that what SUV (excuse me) SVU is for? And the mothership isn't faring much better, script-wise.

Gilmore Girls
Not sucking worse than last season isn't really an accomplishment. Put a fork in it.

Here’s my top ten, it wasn’t that hard as I watch only a couple of other shows that I haven’t listed, and a few of my favorites got canned last year.

The Daily Show / The Colbert Report – The best way to get your news, this way it’s not so depressing,
ER – I had switched many years ago, but for some unknown reason I came back this season. This show is back…
Friday Night Lights – I started watching because I loved Kyle Chandler in Early edition, now I am just hooked on this town.
Gilmore Girls – Now I almost switched off from the disappointment of last season, but I found out they where getting new writers and producers this year. There are still some teething problems, but I really love these characters.
Grey's Anatomy – I actually caught up by DVD a few weeks ago, I watched every episode of this show last month and I just can’t wait for more.
Heroes – This was recommended by someone online. At first I thought it was just a rip off of "The 4400" but it has really drawn me in.
Studio 60 – Well it is written by Aaron Sorkin and stars Mathew Perry and Bradley Whitford. Not as great as his other stuff but its still pretty good.
Ugly Betty – Just funny.
Weeds – How can you not watch this, and with the evil cliffhangers at the end of each season I will definitely come back for more.
The 4400 – I have Idolized Jacqueline McKenzie for as long as I can remember (I am an Aussie), this show just has some of the greatest characters, plus I want to see how they save humanity.

Thanks for the list - I've been waiting for your thoughts. Notice how little of it compares with the Golden Globe nominations? Deadwood, Battlestar and The Wire. Three great, great very very different shows that outshine most everything else on the air. Great list.

Although you were disappointed with the celebrity episode, I find it hard to believe that "The Sopranos" didn't make your list. Tony's hospital stay evoked some of the best performances of the year, particularly Edie Falco.

I'm mostly a comedy fan but "Friday Night Lights" really has me hooked. Mo is completely right about the show but another great thing about it is that it doesn't stick to a formula every episode. I was worried every episode would build up to the week's football game. As exciting as they are, that routine would get boring. Instead, every episode is it's own perfect mini-movie.

I know, I know, it's fashionable for people to go bashing Lost now... People want to whine about how it's "not going anywhere," and how they aren't constantly getting instant gratification from it.

The show is as consistently entertaining (and mysterious) as it was when it began, it continues to surprise, and even shock, the audience, and plenty of questions have already been answered. It's just that not ALL of the questions have been answered yet, and new ones keep cropping up. They've really packed A LOT into less than 2 & 1/2 seasons.

People who lack the patience or attention span for Lost oughta go back and try watching X-Files... Then they'll really see a show that held promise, but ended up going nowhere. Lost hasn't fallen into that trap, and I don't think they will.

I would toss Heroes and Lost in there but I find with both shows that I can watch one episode every 3 weeks or so and there is no discernible character growth or plot movement so I haven't actually missed anything, for me that is "bad" for a serial.

I love House but hate the current story line. Why are all of Houses friends treating him as if his need for the Vicodin is because he is an addict as opposed to in constant excruciating pain? Why did the pain even have to come back. After the surgery with the ketamine (sp?) anesthesia took away the pain the story lines were just as good and House just a big a pain in the ass. The pill popping has never been central to the story line. Why now? Did the AMA pain nazi's finally get to the show's producers?

Not a bad list. I don't like Battlestar Galactica nearly as much as you do, but it's a decent sci-fi show. The love people have for House completely eludes me, I've tried the show several times and find it virtually unwatchable. Mine in no particular order:
Weeds, My Name is Earl, Deadwood, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Dr. Who, 24, The Daily Show and Lost.

While I haven't gotten around to watching Friday Night Lights or some of the programs in your second 10, your list is infinitely better than the lukewarm plate of tripe served up via the Golden Globes yesterday.

There is NO WAY to justify nominating Heroes, Big Love or Gray's Anatomy, especially over The Shield or The Wire. Yes, Heroes is fairly entertaining...yet shallow. Big Love has an interesting story to tell...but feels inert. Gray's Anatomy is ER minus the earnest treatment of medical and ethical themes (Not that ER is a good show anymore, but at least it's always tried to integrate some larger human issues into the plot).

For anyone who has read Maureen's best and worst of the year lists; if you found more in common with the latter, do yourself a favor and start reviewing all the programs on the former. BSG, Dexter, The Wire, The Daily Show and Colbert are all on this evening, so don't wait, start today!

The Chicago Bears are my favorite show this year. The Jones - Benson debate, Grossman's ups and downs, Hester coming into his own, Urlacher, and now Tank Johnson's arrest are all great stories. Plus, they are the Division Champs.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I know you joined in the chorus of critics who found it en vogue to dump all over it, but in fact Sorkin's writing is as sharp as ever and the performances are superb. If it dropped at all in quality while finding it's voice, which I disagree, recent episodes, such as "The Christmas Show" were simply fantastic. (Props, however, on giving How I Met Your Mother it's Legendary Due)

I'm right there with you on Battle Star Gallactica. I was worried when they ended last season with one of those "it's now 1 year later" jumps, but they recovered well.

You missed a couple of my favorites tho. I won't say all my favorites are deserving of the honor (many are guilty pleasures) but what about Meerkat Manor? I love that show. Granted, nature documentaries don't often make the cut, but this show is something special.

Re: The Daily Show
Since when does any adult American need 'governing'? The "men and women who govern us" are not our masters-they are our public servants. They serve the public good, not rule the citizens of the Republic.

I like "House", but this arc with an Inspector Javert wannabe is out of control. There's no way a cop would be allowed to go it alone on a case like this.
All to get ONE doctor that uses vicodin for pain, thoroughly absurd!

I'm not dumping on Lost. A show not being on this list does not mean I don't like it, I promise.

Here are shows I quite like, but that didn't make this list, this year anyway:

Lost
Grey's Anatomy
MI-5
30 Rock
Sopranos
The Soup

I'm sure I'll think of more... but not being on the list doesn't mean I don't like a show. I just felt more passionate about the shows above -- and felt they deserved to be talked up. I mean, does anyone not know that Lost exists? I still faithfully watch it, and still like it a lot, but it lost some momentum this fall. Still, it's a good show. I guess it's in my Top 30 ;)

Things fall in and out of these lists all the time. Grey's was on my Top 10 list last year (I think), and 24 has been in the past. In any case, I really look at my entire top 20 as my sort of statement of assessment for the year, and wouldn't change anything on it. Trust me, I seriously ponder what will be on this list for a month before I write it.

Oh, and btw, my husband is also massively irritated by the Tritter plot. I'm not. And I thought the most recent House was one of the most funny ones in a long time. Not funny that House OD'ed, but in terms of funny lines, it was a killer.

Anyhow, Arrested Development and Everwood, two shows that have ended, could have conceivably been on this list since they aired in 2006, but they were ending, and I'd rather sort of give the nod to shows that are still continuing, though that's not a hard and fast rule.

Mo, my colleague at the Tribune, turned me on to Battlestar Galactica this year. I usually can't stand anything sci-fi, but BSG is a show about people and its humanity, that's set in a sci-fi setting. So thanks, Mo, for making me a fan.

However, three shows on my top 10 list not on Mo's...I'm surprised she didn't include "The Thick Of It", a laugh-out-loud mockumentary about the inner workings of the British parliament. It is VERY British and VERY funny in that dry English tone, but more than that, the storylines are so intricate and clever I'm amazed at how they ever came up with it. Then again, its creator, Armando Iannucci, was also a brainchild behind one of the best Britcoms in the 90's, "I'm Alan Partridge."

Another show from across the pound is "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares," a reality show set in the restaurant industry and starring that irrepressible do*che bag of a chef, Gordon Ramsay. Unlike that terrible FOX show "Hell's Kitchen," we see Ramsay being Ramsay, a funny, sympathetic drill seargeant who wants his subject to succeed in the end. Every week, he spends a week at a restaurant on the ropes and tries to save it from closing. He tinkers with the menu, plays with the interior design, makes them excited about cooking and infuses energy with everyone involved. Sometimes the restaurants flourish afterward, other times it fails. The show is, dare I say, compellivision.

Then there's Arrested Development...please keep the show in your memory. RIP.

Thanks for giving The Shield the credit it is due. How Forrest Whittacker was not nominated for best supporting actor is a joke, best performance I've seen in a long, long time. And how the show basically got snubbed for awards was a joke as well.

You did miss Rescue Me, which is by far the second best show on tv. I know you had a problem with one of the scenes, but if you gave it a chance and let it play out you would have realized how it all came together.

Got pretty nervous that no one was going with My Name is Earl until two top 10 mentions finally popped up. I guess I should be amazed that there are enough people out there who think a show with a running character named Patty the Daytime Hooker (with attendant [breast] glitter references) is hilarious enough that it even got past the first couple episodes.

Mo, I confess I've never seen 'Friday Night Lights'. Do you think it would make more sense for NBC to schedule it on Monday after 'Heroes'? From a distance, it would seem to be a better fit for the demographic lead-in that Heroes provides than Studio 60. Again, I can't really say as I haven't seen it.

..not ten, because I don't watch ten shows regularly - these 5 fill my entertainment "needs" quite nicely. NCIS has enjoyable characters that interact well together and very good writers - Best show on any network, at any time of the day.

Excellent list. I would add The Simpsons and also The Family Guy, as the latter is a consistent laugh-getter and the former nearly matches its hilarity and genius from the 1991-1996 peak years.

I applaud you for including The Wire, which is clearly the best show on tv, and (to quote many other critics) one of the best shows EVER made. However, your description of season 5 of The Shield ("will go down in history as one of the best seasons of television ever") conflicts with one of your earlier articles saying season 4 of The Wire ("is on a level with the best work in television history", Sept. 7).

How Grey's Anatomy's stale storylines that just prolong the vapid romance of McDreamy and the annoying Meridith gets top ranking is beyond me. I think Nip/Tuck redeemed itself this year (as long as you ignore the underwhelming Sanaa Latham). This was Dylan Walsh's year to shine and his stint as Bad Santa has to be one of the highlights of the year. Few performers can handle drama and comedy within the same hour as well as Walsh and Julian McMahon.

Affiliate links disclaimer:

Clicking on the green links will direct you to a third-party Web site. Bloggers and staff writers are in no way affiliated with these links that are placed by an e-commerce specialist only after stories and posts have been published.